"Hey John, catch!"
Samuel Washington shouted. John stood up straight and tall and
reached his hand into the sky so high he might have just grabbed the
sun should it have so struck him to do. With great ease John caught
the large twenty five pound spike hammer in one hand and brought it
forcefully down on the rail spike, driving it through the tie.

"Almost got that'un
o'er my head, boys!" John yelled in that deep loud voice of his.
Now, John was a large, obsidian man of mammoth strength. The other
boys working on the railroad liked to steal his rail spike and see if
they could toss it over his head. The game was fun for the guys and
it gave John fun and creative ways to lay rail. With that big,
white-toothed grin on his face, John wiped the Tuesday afternoon
sweat from his brow and, after a nice deep yawn, set his eyes back to
his work. It was another little while yet until they were let off to
eat lunch, and John still had a lot of track to lie for the day.

With his left hand,
John dropped a rail spike through a hole in the tie down and with his
right hand he gently dropped his spike hammer on the previously laid
spike to drive it into the ground. "You can do better than that,
John Henry!" One of the greenhorns shouted.

"Hey," John yelled
back, "Which one o' ya'll wants to know?" The crowd of men
laughed, stopping what they were doing to turn their eyes to John.
"Alright, fine!" He said with a smile. John took his spike
hammer and slammed it hard down into the dirt, driving it in far
enough to let it stand on its own. Then, the immensely muscular and
tall John Henry bent over and grabbed a new section of track, and
with brute strength picked up the one hundred and fifty-five pound
section of steal railing and carried it over to an unfinished part of
the track. The men around laughed at the ferocity of his strength,
one of them elbowing the greenhorn who had pushed him to show off.
John just smiled and set the railing on the tops of some pre-placed
spikes that had yet to be driven by the team. John smiled and looked
over his large shoulder at the men behind him and shrugged.

"Henry!" Someone
shouted, John's large spike hammer soaring through the air. John
reached up his right hand and caught the massive sledge, and in the
same motion brought it crashing down louder than thunder on the
section of rail and with that one strike simultaneously drove in
every rail spike on that section. The men grabbed their ears and
hooted and hollered out loud for John, cheering on his massive
display of strength. John smiled gaily and rested his spike hammer
on his right shoulder, making his way to the greenhorn that had
started this whole mess.

"Come on," He said,
putting his left arm around the boy, "I think I hear the lunch
bell." The young man smiled and threw an arm as best he could
around the giant man.

"So John," One of
the guys started, mouth full of sandwich "Why ain't you got
yerself a woman yet?"

"Yeah right, he'd
kill 'er the first time he went and tried t' hug her!" Another
one piped up.

John laughed and flexed
his arms, "Nah fellas, its simple really. I only gots one love,"
With a smile, John Henry turned and faced the railroad, "Finishing
that big iron snake and unifying this piece of land we call home."

All the men nodded and
looked longingly at the railroad, all united in purpose. The peace
that seemed to reign in the air in that moment felt as though it
would last forever, if only could do so uninterrupted. "Howdy
boys!" A loud voice rang out. The ground shook and all of the men
turned their attention to the large land-owner that was helping fund
the rail road project. Ulysses R. Williams was a tall and fat white
man, who always wore a suit and always smoked a cigar. He had yellow
teeth, bad breath and a horrible demeanor. The only time he laughed
was when he had something sinister planned. A smile cracked across
his face, the ground still shaking. From around the bend came a
pillar of steam. "Gentlemen," Ulysses began, "Today we make
history! Let me introduce you to the machine that will unite this
country!" The billows of steam grew closer and closer, and with
great pride in voice, Ulysses announced, "Gentlemen! Behold! The
steam-power spike hammer! This machine can lay track faster and
harder than any you men!"

The men stared at the
machine with a quiet awe as it slowed to a stop on a section of
unfinished track in front of them. Ulysses waived his hand and
cracked another sinister smile, and suddenly the machine roared back
to life. The large and shiny box of a machine began to move slowly
forward, steam rising thicker and thicker from the top of its stack.
As it drove forward, long mechanical arms reached out and grabbed
fresh rail from either side of the track and laid it in front of the
machine which then rolled over top of it and drove spikes through the
tie downs, securing the rail. The machine moved at an
incomprehensible rate of speed, and the longer it went the faster it
moved. The hot sun that shone in the bright afternoon sky simply
added to the beast's power. The men began to talk among themselves
about where to find work. Some of them even began to take off their
hats and tool belts, dropping them on the ground and walking off
towards town. There was a general depression that fell on that day,
until one man stepped forward.

"Ulysses!" A strong
voice, loud as thunder called out. Ulysses turned around to face a
man walking from the crowd, a man equal with him in height but a man
stronger, with a darker face, loving eyes, and a chiseled jaw.
"Ulysses, you listen here," John Henry said, "This here's a
man's job. This here's a job that any my men could do better
than any damned ol' machine yer money can buy. Nothin' can
replace my men!"

Ulysses smiled and
stepped forward to John, blowing smoke in his face, "Oh but Mr.
Henry," He said, his thick southern drawl coming on strong, "I've
already replaced you and your men."

John Henry turned and
looked back to all the men standing still left standing around. His
big brown eyes had turned sad. "Go home, Mr. Henry," Ulysses
said, "Go find yerself a woman, an easier job, make a family. Let
these men make families, Mr. Henry."

John shut his eyes
tight for a moment, a tear streaming down his cheek. "Hey John,"
John looked up, "You can do better than that!" The greenhorn
shouted, John Henry's spike hammer flying through the air. A large
smile crossed Henry's face as his right hand shot up in the air
with enough height and power to topple a mountain. There was a soft
thud as John caught the spike hammer and turned to face down Ulysses.

"How about this,"
John said firmly, "Your machine verses me and my men. If I can lay
rail faster than that… thing you got there, my men keep their jobs.
Otherwise, we'll be takin' yer advice and movin' on. What do
you say?"

Ulysses stopped, eyes
wide with shock over Henry's response. He took a moment to ponder,
puffing his cigar and leaning over to see passed John and lay eyes on
the men. Then, suddenly, Ulysses began to laugh. "You haven't
got a chance this side of hell, Mr. Henry," He mocked, "But if
that's what ye really want, then far be it from me to stop ye!"
The men roared in ovation, cheering on John who just smiled at
Ulysses.

So there the time had
come, an hour later, and John stood a mile away from steam powered
spike hammer which faced him. They would race each a mile on the
open field towards each other. The first one to make it to the
opposite end of the Big Bend tunnel that lay between them would be
declared the winner. Now there would be two parallel sections of
track running next to each other in the tunnel as to avoid John
running directly into the steam hammer and vice versa.

Tension began to fill
the air as the men stood with steal loaded onto a pallet with ropes
for pulling. John just smiled that big confident smile he had.
"Hey," He shouted to the greenhorn, who was going to attempt to
pull the pallet of rail sections with the guys, "Take this!" And
with that John tossed the young man his hat. The boy barely had time
to smile and thank Henry when the whistle sounded.

Immediately the steam
hammer took off, white smoke billowing from its stack as it lurched
forward. The large mechanical arms began reaching and grabbing
sections of rail with loud metal shrieks and cries. The gears wound
tightly as the two pieces of track were placed simultaneously in
front of the machine which rolled on top of them and with a loud
crack began to drive spikes down through the tie downs and into the
cross sections of the track.

John Henry also sprung
into action, reaching over to the pallet and grabbing two pieces of
steal, hoisting them onto his shoulders and carrying them to their
place. He threw them down and grabbed two more, not bothering to
carry these where they go but rather just tossing them into place.
He threw several more sections of track ahead of himself and where he
was going to be and then grabbed a large sack of rail spikes.

Henry's men began
pulling on the pallet of steal beams by the braided ropes. Slowly
they started pulling it forward, attempting to beat Henry down the
sections of track with the new railing he would need. So now John
Henry's machine was in motion. John reached into the sack and
threw a rail spike in the air with his left hand and then, spike
hammer in his right, brought his right arm around in a circular
motion. The head of the sledge collided with the head of the spike
in mid air and Henry, like a monster, drove the spike into the tie
down. As soon as the spike had been buried, John Henry switched the
sledge to his left hand and threw a spike with his right. He would
then bring his left arm around and drive the spike out of the air and
into the opposite side's tie down before switching hands again.

Over and over again
Henry went through this motion, laying section after section of rail
with ferocious strength and fierce speed. As fast as Henry went, so
went the steam hammer, keeping pace with him. Both John Henry and
the steam hammer drew closer and closer to the tunnel, evenly matched
for speed, but not for power. The men on Henry's crew continued to
non-stop pull the sections of rail ahead of Henry so it would be
waiting for him when he needed it, but they soon found that they, the
thirty of them, couldn't keep up with John Henry! No matter how
hard they pulled the pallet to keep up with him, John Henry would
always move just a little bit faster than they could manage.

"John!" The
greenhorn shouted. John looked up and saw that the steam hammer had
entered the tunnel already. Sweat poured like water down Henry's
face, grit and determination showing strong in his eyes. John ran
over to the pallet, dropping his spike hammer and picking up instead
an armful of about ten pieces of rail. John Henry held the rail
sections diagonally across his body with brute force and strength he
bent them to hold a slight curve. John ran over to the tunnel and,
with a massive heave, threw the railing inside, and ran back to grab
more. He repeated this process until he had enough railing to cover
the rest of the tunnel. Each time John walked to the tunnel he could
hear the steam hammer louder and louder.

Not letting anything
slow him down, however, John Henry pressed on. He would place the
curved railing in place and drive spike after spike through the tie
downs, bolting the track in place. With each rail spike driven
through, John gained a little bit of time on the steam hammer.
Slowly he began to catch up in the race, going about the same speed
as the steam hammer – which was now moving as fast as it was
capable of going.

John looked up for just
a moment, gauging the distance of the steam hammer in the tunnel.
Both John and the steam hammer were about to meet at the half-way
point, the two of them now going the same speed. John pressed on,
alone in the tunnel against his foe. Emotionless and powerful, the
steam hammer pushed on driving rail. And for every step it was
matched with the spirit and strength of John Henry.

The noise of the metal
goliath grew louder and louder, deafening the giant John Henry. It
was here, in the middle of the tunnel, that John decidedly won the
battle. With strength, anger, and the American Spirit, John Henry
turned on the steam hammer and sent his massive sledge into the side
of the steal beast. It groaned and slowed for a moment and Henry hit
it again, putting a large hole in its side and losing his sledge to
it. The giant steam hammer tilted up for a moment and fell over on
its side by the track, its deafening noise quietly dissipating into
the darkness of the tunnel.

John Henry turned back
to the track and began throwing the next sections of rail down. He
reached into his bag and pulled out several rail spikes and began
driving them down through the tie downs with his bare hands, not
breaking his rhythm from earlier at all. Sweat poured down his face
and blood flowed from his hands as the tired but powerful John Henry
drove spike after spike through the fresh laid railing harder than he
ever had before.

Finally, just ten
minutes after the race had began, John Henry emerged from the tunnel,
still driving spike after spike with his bare hands. The cigar
dropped from the lips of a surprised Ulysses R. Williams and John
Henry's men roared in a loud applause. John Henry laid the rail
and drove the spikes bare handed all the way up to Ulysses' feet
and then stood, salty sweat running from his face and blood dripping
from his knuckles, heart and head pounding in unison, and all of his
men clapping and cheering wildly. "We'll be keepin' our jobs."
He said, spitting sweat on Ulysses' face.

Frustrated, Ulysses
turned and walked off back towards his carriage. Victorious, John
Henry turned and faced his men with a smile. He threw off the sack
of rail spikes threw his fist in the air in victory. All of the men
went wild with applause, deafening cheers filling the air as every
man celebrated John Henry's amazing victory over the steam hammer.
John smiled and threw his other fist in the air, his eyes wide trying
to take in air with his panting mouth, and then, unexpectedly, John
Henry fell to the ground. Bruising covered his chest, and a smile
covered his face – John Henry was dead.

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